MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision at Minnesota in the battle for the Little Brown Jug on Friday night (April 11) at the Baseline Tennis Center.

Minnesota grabbed control of the match early, winning at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions to take a 1-0 lead. U-M's No. 1 tandem of senior Shaun Bernstein(Plainview, N.Y./Plainview Old Bethpage JFK) and freshman Kevin Wong(Hong Kong/Diocesa) were tied with the pairing of Leandro Toledo and Eric Frueh, 7-7, when the match was abandoned.

The Gophers won three of the first four matches off the court to secure the match, posting victories at the No. 2, 4 and 6 positions. After senior/junior Justin Rossi(Novi, Mich./Laurel Springs Prep) dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision at No. 4, junior Vlad Stefan(Bucharest, Romania) gave the Wolverines their first point of the match with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Jack Hamburg at the No. 3 spot.

From there, Minnesota responded with back-to-back wins at the No. 2 and No. 6 positions to clinch the dual-match victory. First, Ruben Weber earned a 6-3, 6-3 win over Bernstein at the No. 2 spot. Juan Pablo Ramirez followed with a 6-2, 6-4 decision over junior Michael Zhu(Princeton, N.J./Keystone National) to give the Gophers their fourth point of the match.

Shortly after Minnesota secured the team win, senior Alex Buzzi(Key Biscayne, Fla./Gulliver Prep) gave U-M its second point of the match with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Eric Frueh at No. 5. With the win, Buzzi picked up his ninth dual-match victory of the season.

The Gophers added one final point at the No. 1 position, as the 66th-ranked Toledo defeated junior Alex Petrone(Staten Island, N.Y./Laurel Springs Prep) in the final match on the court.

The Wolverines will wrap up their Big Ten road schedule on Sunday (April 13), traveling to Madison, Wis., to face No. 74 Wisconsin at noon CTD at the Nielsen Tennis Center.